INTERNATIONAL VAT/GST GUIDELINES

Transcription

1 INTERNATIONAL VAT/GST GUIDELINES International VAT/GST Guidelines Third Meeting of the OECD Global Forum on VAT 5-6 NOVEMBER 2015 PARIS, FRANCE Contents Chapter 1. Core Features of Value Added Taxes Covered by the Guidelines Chapter 2. Neutrality of Value Added Taxes in the Context of Cross-Border Trade Chapter 3. Determining the Place of Taxation for Cross-Border Supplies of Services and Intangibles Chapter 4. Supporting the Guidelines in Practice: Mutual Co-operation, Dispute Minimisation, and Application in Cases of Evasion and Avoidance

2 INTERNATIONAL VAT/GST GUIDELINES November

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4 INTRODUCTION At the second meeting of the OECD Global Forum on VAT, in April 2014 in Tokyo, the high-level officials of 100 jurisdictions and international organisations endorsed the first three chapters of the OECD International VAT/GST Guidelines as global standards for the application of VAT/GST to international trade. In the Statement of Outcomes of this meeting, they urged the OECD to finalise the work on the remaining elements of the Guidelines and to present the completed Guidelines for endorsement at the next meeting of the Global Forum. This work has been carried out since April 2014 and the resulting new elements of the Guidelines have been merged with those that were endorsed at the 2014 Global Forum to form a fully consolidated draft. This consolidated draft was approved by the OECD s Committee on Fiscal Affairs (CFA) on 7 July 2015 with OECD and G20 countries working together on an equal footing, and is now presented for discussion at the third meeting of the OECD Global Forum on VAT. These new elements of the Guidelines notably include a recommended solution for the effective collection of VAT/GST on the remote business-to-consumer sales of digital products by foreign suppliers (B2C Guidelines). These B2C Guidelines were developed in the context of the OECD/G20 Project on Base and Erosion and Profit Shifting (the BEPS Project). They were included in the 2015 Final Report on BEPS Action 1 Addressing the Tax Challenges of the Digital Economy that was endorsed by G20 Finance Ministers at their meeting on 8 October 2015 in Lima, Peru, as part of the final BEPS Package. 3

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6 TABLE OF CONTENTS PREFACE CHAPTER 1: Core Features of Value Added Taxes Covered by the Guidelines A. Overarching purpose of a VAT: A broad-based tax on final consumption B. The central design feature of a VAT: Staged collection process C. VAT and international trade: The destination principle D. Application of generally accepted principles of tax policy to VAT: The Ottawa Taxation Framework Conditions CHAPTER 2: Neutrality of Value Added Taxes in the Context of Cross-Border Trade A. Introduction B. Basic neutrality principles C. Neutrality in international trade C.1 Taxation principles C.2 Administration and compliance D. Applying the VAT neutrality principles in the context of cross-border trade: Commentary on the Guidelines on neutrality D.1 Principles of good tax administration D.2 Reciprocity D.3 Groups of countries D.4 Commentary on the Guidelines D.4.1 Commentary on Guideline 2.1 D.4.2 Commentary on Guideline 2.2 D Similar levels of taxation D Businesses in similar situations D Similar transactions D Summary D.4.3 Commentary on Guideline 2.3 D.4.4 Commentary on Guideline 2.4 D.4.5 Commentary on Guideline 2.5 D.4.6 Commentary on Guideline 2.6 5

7 CHAPTER 3: Determining the Place of Taxation for Cross-Border Supplies of Services and Intangibles A. The destination principle B. Business-to-business supplies The general rule B.1 Defining the general rule B.2 Applying the general rule - Supply of a service or intangible to a legal entity with single location B.3 Applying the general rule - Supply of a service or intangible to a legal entity with multiple locations B.3.1 B.3.2 B.3.3 B.3.4 Direct use Direct delivery Recharge method Conclusion B.4 Commentary on applying the general rule - Supply of a service or intangible to a legal entity with single location B.4.1 B.4.2 B.4.3 Supplies to single location entities Supplier B The determination of the place of taxation is not affected by any onward supply B The determination of the place of taxation is not affected by the direct provision of the services or intangibles to a third party business other than the customer of the supply B The determination of the place of taxation is not affected by the direction of the payment flows and the identity and location of the payer Supplies to single location entities Customer B The determination of the place of taxation is not affected by any onward supply B The determination of the place of taxation is not affected by the direct provision of the services or intangibles to a third party business other than the customer of the supply B The determination of the place of taxation is not affected by the direction of the payment flows and the identity and location of the payer Supplies to single location entities - Tax administrations B The determination of the place of taxation is not affected by any onward supply B The determination of the place of taxation is not affected by the direct provision of the services or intangibles to a third party business other than the customer of the supply B The determination of the place of taxation is not affected by the direction of the payment flows and the identity and location of the payer 6

8 B.5 Commentary on applying the recharge method under the general rule - Supply of a service or intangible to a legal entity with multiple locations B.5.1 B.5.2 First step - Supply to the MLE B Supplier B Customer B Tax administrations Second step - recharge to the establishment(s) of use B Supplier B Customer B Tax administrations C. Business-to-consumer supplies The general rules C.1 Introduction C.2 Business-to-consumer supplies On-the-spot supplies C.3 Business-to-consumer supplies Supplies of services and intangibles other than those covered by Guideline 3.5 C.3.1 C.3.2 C.3.3 C.3.4 Determining the jurisdiction of the usual residence of the customer VAT collection in cases where the supplier is not located in the jurisdiction of taxation Main features of a simplified registration and compliance regime C Registration procedure C Input tax recovery Refunds C Return procedure C Payments C Record keeping C Invoicing C Availability of information C Use of third-party service providers C Application in business-to-business context C Proportionality International co-operation to support VAT collection in cases where the supplier is not located in the jurisdiction of taxation D. Business-to-business and business-to-consumer supplies - Specific rules D.1 Evaluation framework for assessing the desirability of a specific rule D.2 Circumstances where a specific rule may be desirable D.2.1 D.2.2 Examples of circumstances where a specific rule might be desirable in a business-to-business context Examples of circumstance where a specific rule might be desirable in a business-to-consumer context 7

9 D.3 Special considerations for supplies of services and intangibles directly connected with tangible property D.3.1 Specific rule for supplies of services and intangibles directly connected with immovable property D.3.2 Circumstances where a specific rule for supplies of services and intangibles directly connected with immovable property might be appropriate D.3.3 Common features of supplies of services and intangibles directly connected with immovable property D.3.4 Further description of the supplies of services and intangibles directly connected with immovable property for which a specific rule might be appropriate D.3.5 Services and intangibles connected with movable tangible property Annex 1: Examples to illustrate the application of the general rule on place of taxation for business-tobusiness supplies of services and intangibles to single location entities Annex 2: Examples to illustrate the application of the recharge method under the general rule on place of taxation for business-to-business supplies of services and intangibles to multiple location entities CHAPTER 4: Supporting the Guidelines in Practice: Mutual Co-operation, Dispute Minimisation, and Application in Cases of Evasion and Avoidance A. Introduction B. Mutual Co-operation, exchange of information, and other arrangements allowing tax Administrations to communicate and work together B.1 Background B.2 Existing mechanisms for mutual co-operation B.2.1 B.2.2 C. Taxpayer services Multilateral co-operation Bilateral co-operation D. Application of the Guidelines in cases of evasion and avoidance D.1 Meaning of evasion and avoidance D.2 Illustration of concepts of evasion and avoidance in a VAT context 8

10 PREFACE 1. As Value Added Tax ( VAT ) 1 has continued to spread across the world, international trade in goods and services has likewise expanded rapidly in an increasingly globalised economy. One consequence of these developments has been the greater interaction between VAT systems, along with growing risks of double taxation and unintended non-taxation in the absence of international VAT coordination. 2. Basic VAT principles are generally the same across jurisdictions insofar as they are designed to tax final consumption in the jurisdiction where it occurs according to the destination principle. Nevertheless, since the late 1990s tax authorities and the business community have recognised that VAT rules require greater coherence to avoid burdens on global trade. They have also recognised that a co-operative approach is required to solve common problems. 3. The first tangible output of the OECD's work in this area came with the 1998 Ottawa Conference on electronic commerce which endorsed the Ottawa Taxation Framework Conditions. Building on this work, the OECD s Committee on Fiscal Affairs ( CFA ) adopted the Guidelines on Consumption Taxation of Cross-Border Services and Intangible Property in the Context of E-commerce (2003), which were complemented by the Consumption Tax Guidance Series (2003). 4. Against the background of the strong growth of international trade in services, evidence grew that tax issues needing attention were not confined to electronic commerce but that VAT could distort cross-border trade in services and intangibles more generally and that this situation was creating obstacles to business activity, hindering economic growth and distorting competition. Recognising that jurisdictions would benefit from principles that contribute toward ensuring that VAT systems interact consistently so that they facilitate rather than distort international trade, the OECD launched a project to develop International VAT/GST Guidelines ( the Guidelines ). The International VAT/GST Guidelines: Aim and status 5. The Guidelines set forth a number of principles for the VAT treatment of the most common types of international transactions, focusing on trade in services and intangibles, with the aim of reducing the uncertainty and risks of double taxation and unintended non-taxation that result from inconsistencies in the application of VAT in a cross-border context. The Guidelines build on international dialogue among OECD Members and Partners and other relevant stakeholders, including academia and private institutions. 6. The Guidelines do not aim at detailed prescriptions for national legislation. Jurisdictions are sovereign with respect to the design and application of their laws. Rather, the Guidelines seek to identify objectives and suggest means for achieving them. Their purpose is to serve as a reference point. They are intended to assist policy makers in their efforts to evaluate and develop the legal and administrative framework in their jurisdictions, taking into account their specific economic, legal, institutional, cultural and social circumstances and practices. 1 For ease of reading, the terms value added tax and VAT are used to refer to any national tax that embodies the basic features of a value added tax as described in Chapter 1, by whatever name or acronym it is known (e.g. Goods and Services Tax ( GST )). 9

11 7. The Guidelines are evolutionary in nature and should be reviewed in light of relevant developments. Governments have an important responsibility for shaping effective tax frameworks, thereby assessing the likely effects, costs and benefits of policy options and ensuring sufficient flexibility to respond to evolving circumstances and demands. Such developments may call for further updating and revision of the Guidelines. 8. The Guidelines apply only to VAT systems, by whatever name or acronym they are known, that embody the basic features described in Chapter 1: broad-based taxes on final consumption collected from, but in principle not borne by, businesses through a staged collection process (by whatever approach, e.g. invoice-credit method or subtraction method). In principle, taxes that lack these characteristics fall outside the scope of the Guidelines, even if they are denominated as a type of VAT. For example a production-type VAT would not be covered because such a tax is not designed to tax final consumption. The Guidelines also do not apply to single-stage consumption taxes charged only once to the end user at the final point of sale, such as retail sales taxes. Development process of the International VAT/GST Guidelines 9. The Guidelines have been developed by the CFA, through its Working Party No. 9 on Consumption Taxes, in co-operation with a number of Partner countries and the Working Party s Technical Advisory Group ( TAG ), consisting of representatives from tax authorities, international organisations and business, and further supported by academics. The core features of the VAT, as described in Chapter 1, imply that businesses play an important role in the collection of the tax. Although they should not, in principle, bear the burden of the tax, businesses inevitably bear compliance costs associated with the collection of the tax at all intermediary stages of the supply chain up to the final consumer and with the remittance to the tax authorities. Businesses are therefore considered key partners for jurisdictions in designing and operating VAT systems and the business community is actively involved in the development of the Guidelines. 10. The Guidelines have been developed in a staged process and the CFA regularly published interim drafts for public consultation. When the process of consultation was completed, all comments were carefully considered and the drafts were modified when appropriate. Work then continued on the basis of the progress achieved. Each element of the Guidelines was regarded as a building block and was reviewed in the light of the subsequent contributions to the Guidelines in order to form a coherent whole. 11. In addition to the core features of the VAT described in Chapter 1, the Guidelines as currently constituted address the fundamental principles of VAT that apply to cross-border trade, i.e. the neutrality of the tax (see Chapter 2); the definition of the place of taxation for cross-border trade in services and intangibles 2 between businesses ( business-to-business supplies ) and between businesses and final consumers ( business-to-consumer supplies ) (see Chapter 3); and mechanisms for supporting the Guidelines in practice, including mutual co-operation, dispute minimisation, and application in cases of evasion and avoidance (see Chapter 4). 12. Underpinning these Guidelines is the assumption that parties involved act in good faith and that all supplies are legitimate and with economic substance. Chapter 4 provides guidance on the application of the Guidelines in cases of evasion and avoidance. 2 Some jurisdictions have categories of supplies other than goods and services. For ease of reference, in these Guidelines items such as intellectual property rights and other intangibles are referred to as intangibles. 10

12 CHAPTER 1 CORE FEATURES OF VALUE ADDED TAXES 1.1 This Chapter describes the core features of VAT, with a particular focus on their application to international trade. The description is based on widely shared understandings among tax administrations, businesses, academics, and other tax experts regarding the VAT s overall purpose, design, and implementation. A. Overarching purpose of a VAT: A broad-based tax on final consumption 1.2 The overarching purpose of a VAT is to impose a broad-based tax on consumption, which is understood to mean final consumption by households. In principle only private individuals, as distinguished from businesses, engage in the consumption at which a VAT is targeted. In practice, however, many VAT systems impose VAT burden not only on consumption by private individuals, but also on various entities that are involved in non-business activities. 1.3 As a broad-based tax, the VAT is distinguishable from excises targeted at specific forms of consumption such as the purchase of gasoline or alcohol. 1.4 A necessary consequence of the fundamental proposition that a VAT is a tax on final consumption by households is that the burden of the VAT should not rest on businesses. This follows as a matter of elementary logic from the proposition that the VAT is a tax on household consumption, because businesses are not households and, at least as a matter of principle, are incapable of final or household consumption. In practice, if a business acquires goods, services or intangibles that are used in whole or in part for the private consumption of the business owners, VAT regimes must determine whether, or the extent to which, the purchase should be treated as acquired for business purposes or for private consumption. B. The central design feature of a VAT: Staged collection process 1.5 The central design feature of a VAT, and the feature from which it derives its name, is that the tax is collected through a staged process. Each business in the supply chain takes part in the process of controlling and collecting the tax, remitting the proportion of tax corresponding to its margin, i.e. on the difference between the VAT imposed on its taxed inputs and the VAT imposed on its taxed outputs. Thus, the tax is in principle collected on the value added at each stage of production and distribution. In this respect, the VAT differs from a retail sales tax ( RST ), which taxes consumption through a single-stage levy imposed in theory only at the point of final sale. 1.6 This central design feature of the VAT, coupled with the fundamental principle that the burden of the tax should not rest on businesses, requires a mechanism for relieving businesses of the burden of the VAT they pay when they acquire goods, services, or intangibles. There are two principal approaches to implementing the staged collection process while relieving businesses of the VAT burden, thus permitting successive taxpayers to deduct the VAT they pay on their purchases while accounting for the VAT they collect on their sales. Under the invoice-credit method (which is a transaction based method ), each trader charges VAT at the rate specified for each supply and passes to the purchaser an invoice showing the amount of tax charged. The purchaser is in turn able to credit that input tax against the output tax charged on its sales, remitting the balance to the tax authorities and receiving refunds when there are excess credits. Under the subtraction method (which is an entity based method ), the tax is levied directly on an accounts-based measure of value added, which is determined for each business by subtracting the VAT calculated on allowable purchases from the VAT 11

13 calculated on taxable supplies. Almost all jurisdictions that operate a VAT use the invoice-credit method. 1.7 In general, OECD jurisdictions with a VAT impose the tax at every stage of the economic process and allow deduction of taxes on purchases by all but the final consumer. This design feature gives to the VAT its essential character in domestic trade as an economically neutral tax. The full right to deduct input tax through the supply chain, except by the final consumer, ensures the neutrality of the tax, whatever the nature of the product, the structure of the distribution chain, and the means used for its delivery (e.g. retail stores, physical delivery, Internet downloads). As a result of the staged payment system, VAT thereby flows through the businesses to tax supplies made to final consumers. C. VAT and international trade: The destination principle 1.8 The overarching purpose of VAT as a levy on final consumption, coupled with its central design feature of a staged collection process, lays the foundation for the core VAT principles bearing on international trade. The fundamental issue of economic policy in relation to the international application of the VAT is whether the levy should be imposed by the jurisdiction of origin or destination. Under the destination principle, tax is ultimately levied only on the final consumption that occurs within the taxing jurisdiction. Under the origin principle, the tax is levied in the various jurisdictions where the value was added. The key economic difference between the two principles is that the destination principle places all firms competing in a given jurisdiction on an even footing whereas the origin principle places consumers in different jurisdictions on an even footing. 1.9 The application of the destination principle in VAT achieves neutrality in international trade. Under the destination principle, exports are not subject to tax with refund of input taxes (that is, free of VAT or zero-rated ) and imports are taxed on the same basis and at the same rates as domestic supplies. Accordingly, the total tax paid in relation to a supply is determined by the rules applicable in the jurisdiction of its consumption and all revenue accrues to the jurisdiction where the supply to the final consumer occurs By contrast, under the origin principle each jurisdiction would levy VAT on the value created within its own borders. 3 Under an origin-based regime, exporting jurisdictions would tax exports on the same basis and at the same rate as domestic supplies, while importing jurisdictions would give a credit against their own VAT for the hypothetical tax that would have been paid at the importing jurisdiction s own rate. Tax paid on a supply would then reflect the pattern of its origins and the aggregate revenue would be distributed in that pattern. This would run counter to the core features of a VAT: as a tax on consumption, the revenue should accrue to the jurisdiction where the final consumption takes place. Under the origin principle, these revenues are shared amongst jurisdictions where value is added. By imposing tax at the various rates applicable in the jurisdictions where value is added, the origin principle could influence the economic or geographical structure of the value chain and undermine neutrality in international trade For these reasons, there is widespread consensus that the destination principle, with revenue accruing to the country of import where final consumption occurs, is preferable to the origin principle from both a theoretical and practical standpoint. In fact, the destination principle is the international norm and is sanctioned by World Trade Organization ( WTO ) rules. 4 3 This should be distinguished from the term used in the European Union for a proposed system (which was not implemented) in which the VAT would have been collected by the Member State of origin and the revenue later channelled to the Member State of destination for transactions within the European Union. 4 Footnote 1 of the WTO s Agreement on Subsidies and Countervailing Measures provides that the exemption of an exported product from duties or taxes borne by the like product when destined for domestic consumption, or the remission of such duties or taxes in amounts not in excess of those which have accrued, shall not be deemed to be a subsidy. 12

14 1.12 Because of the widespread acceptance of the destination principle for applying VAT to international trade, most of the rules currently in force are generally intended to tax supplies of goods, services and intangibles within the jurisdiction where consumption takes place. Practical means of implementing this intention are, nevertheless, diverse across jurisdictions, which can in some instances lead to double taxation or unintended non-taxation, and to uncertainties for both businesses and tax administrations Implementation of the destination principle with respect to international trade in goods is relatively straightforward in theory and generally effective in practice, due in large part to the existence of border controls or fiscal frontiers. When a transaction involves goods being moved from one jurisdiction to another, the goods are generally taxed where they are delivered. The exported goods are free of VAT in the seller s jurisdiction (and are freed of any residual VAT via successive businesses deductions of input tax), whilst imports are subject to the same VAT as equivalent domestic goods in the purchaser s jurisdiction. The VAT on imports is generally collected at the same time as customs duties, although in some jurisdictions collection is postponed until declared on the importer s next VAT return. Allowing deduction of the VAT incurred at importation in the same way as input tax deduction on a domestic supply ensures neutrality and limits distortions in relation to international trade Implementing the destination principle for international trade in services and intangibles is more difficult than for international trade in goods. The nature of services and intangibles is such that they cannot be subject to border controls in the same way as goods. For these reasons, Guidelines have been developed for determining the jurisdiction of taxation for international supplies of services and intangibles that reflect the destination principle (see Chapter 3) Making exports free of VAT and taxing imports introduce a breach in the staged collection process. In many VAT systems that operate an invoice-credit method, the VAT on cross-border business-to-business supplies of services and intangibles is collected by the reverse charge mechanism. This is a tax mechanism that switches the liability to pay the tax from the supplier to the customer. In the absence of such a mechanism, foreign suppliers that deliver services in jurisdictions where they are not established would in principle have to register for VAT purposes and fulfil all VAT obligations in these jurisdictions. To avoid such administrative burdens on foreign suppliers, and to assure that VAT is accounted for, the reverse charge mechanism allows (or sometimes requires) the VAT registered customer to account for the tax on supplies received from foreign suppliers. If the customer is entitled to a full input tax credit in respect of the supply, it may be that local VAT legislation does not require the reverse charge to be made. However, the reverse charge mechanism is not applied in all jurisdictions and, where it is implemented, the rules may differ from country to country. D. Application of generally accepted principles of tax policy to VAT: The Ottawa Taxation Framework Conditions 1.16 Although they were articulated in the context of taxation of electronic commerce, the generally accepted principles of tax policy applicable to consumption taxes that were welcomed by Ministers from across the globe in are broadly applicable to VATs in both domestic and international trade. Indeed, the Ottawa Taxation Framework Conditions themselves derived from the same principles that governments apply to taxation of conventional commerce. 6 These generally accepted principles of tax policy, some of which have already been noted above, are as follows: Neutrality: Taxation should seek to be neutral and equitable between forms of electronic commerce and between conventional and electronic forms of commerce. Business decisions should be motivated by economic rather than tax considerations. Taxpayers in 5 The Ottawa Taxation Framework Conditions were welcomed by Ministers at the Ministerial Conference on Electronic Commerce held in Ottawa on 7-9 October OECD (2001), Taxation and Electronic Commerce - Implementing the Ottawa Taxation Framework Conditions, OECD, Paris. 13

15 similar situations carrying out similar transactions should be subject to similar levels of taxation. Efficiency: Compliance costs for businesses and administrative costs for the tax authorities should be minimised as far as possible. Certainty and simplicity: The tax rules should be clear and simple to understand so that taxpayers can anticipate the tax consequences in advance of a transaction, including knowing when, where, and how the tax is to be accounted. Effectiveness and fairness: Taxation should produce the right amount of tax at the right time. The potential for tax evasion and avoidance should be minimised while keeping counteracting measures proportionate to risks involved. Flexibility: The systems for taxation should be flexible and dynamic to ensure that they keep pace with technological and commercial developments While these tax policy principles guide the development of the International VAT/GST Guidelines in general, Chapter 2 of these Guidelines is specifically dedicated to neutrality given its importance as a core principle of VAT design. 14

16 CHAPTER 2 NEUTRALITY OF VALUE ADDED TAXES IN THE CONTEXT OF CROSS-BORDER TRADE A. Introduction 2.1 The concept of tax neutrality in VAT has a number of dimensions, including the absence of discrimination in a tax environment that is unbiased and impartial and the elimination of undue tax burdens and disproportionate or inappropriate compliance costs for businesses. Neutrality is one of the principles that help to ensure the collection of the right amount of revenue by governments. 2.2 These Guidelines are concerned with all aspects of neutrality in the international context. Although they draw from the basic principles that apply to domestic transactions, they do not cover domestic aspects of neutrality, such as the influence of the tax structure (e.g. different rates and exemptions) on decisions by consumers. B. Basic neutrality principles 2.3 The basic principles underpinning neutrality are set out in Chapter 1. In domestic trade, tax neutrality is achieved in principle by the multi-stage payment system: each business pays VAT to its providers on its inputs and receives VAT from its customers on its outputs. To ensure that the right amount of tax is remitted to tax authorities, input VAT incurred by each business is offset against its output VAT, resulting in a liability to pay the net amount or balance of those two. 7 This means that VAT normally flows through the business to tax the final consumers. It is therefore important that at each stage, the supplier be entitled to a full right of deduction of input tax, so that the tax burden eventually rests on the final consumer rather than on the intermediaries in the supply chain. This principle is laid down in Guideline 2.1. Guideline 2.1 The burden of value added taxes themselves should not lie on taxable businesses except where explicitly provided for in legislation. 2.4 In this context, the words except where explicitly provided mean that jurisdictions may legitimately place a value added tax burden on business. The following examples illustrate a number of situations where this is the case: Where transactions made by businesses are exempt because the tax base of the outputs is difficult to assess (e.g. many financial services) or for policy reasons (health care, education, culture). Tax legislation may also impose value added tax on businesses to secure effective taxation of final consumption. This might be the case when the business makes transactions that fall outside the scope of the tax (e.g. transactions without consideration) or the input tax relates to purchases that are not wholly used for furtherance of taxable business activity. 7 In some cases, the result of the offset gives rise to a refund due by the tax authorities to the business. Examples include businesses that incur more tax on their inputs than is due on their outputs (such as exporters, whose output is free of VAT in their jurisdiction under the destination principle) and businesses whose purchases are larger than their sales in the same period (such as new or developing businesses and seasonal businesses). 15

17 Jurisdictions also provide legislation that disallows input tax recovery where explicit administrative obligations are not met (e.g. insufficient evidence to support input tax deduction). 2.5 Any such imposition of VAT on business should be clear and explicit within the legislative framework for the tax. Guideline 2.2 Businesses in similar situations carrying out similar transactions should be subject to similar levels of taxation. 2.6 The tax should be neutral and equitable in similar circumstances. This is to ensure that the tax ultimately collected along a particular supply chain is proportional to the amount paid by the final consumer, whatever the nature of the supply, the structure of the distribution chain, the number of transactions or economic operators involved and the technical means used. Guideline 2.3 VAT rules should be framed in such a way that they are not the primary influence on business decisions. 2.7 It is recognised that there are, in fact, a number of factors that can influence business decisions, including financial, commercial, social, environmental and legal factors. Whilst VAT is also a factor that is likely to be considered, it should not be the primary driver for business decisions. For example, VAT rules or policies should not induce businesses to adopt specific legal forms under which they operate (e.g. whether in a subsidiary or a branch structure). 2.8 VAT considerations include the amount of tax ultimately paid to tax administrations, the compliance burdens related to the collection, payment or refund of the tax such as filing of tax returns, maintaining adequate book-keeping and the financial costs related to the cash-flow impact of the VAT system. 2.9 In addition, to support the neutrality principle, the VAT rules should be accessible, clear and consistent. C. Neutrality in international trade C.1 Taxation principles 2.10 The general principles underpinning neutrality described above and the Guidelines that flow from them apply equally to domestic and international trade. One question is whether there are any additional considerations that need to be taken into account in the international context It is particularly important that the application of the rules for international supplies does not produce a tax advantage when compared with comparable domestic transactions. This includes the level at which taxation is applied, the costs of collection and administration and the corresponding burdens placed on businesses and tax administrations. Guideline 2.4 With respect to the level of taxation, foreign businesses should not be disadvantaged or advantaged compared to domestic businesses in the jurisdiction where the tax may be due or paid. 16

18 2.12 VAT systems are designed to apply in a fair and even-handed way to ensure there is no unfair competitive advantage afforded to domestic or foreign businesses that may otherwise distort international trade and limit consumer choice. This is achieved by the application of the destination principle, under which exports are free of VAT and imports are taxed on the same basis and at the same rate as domestic supplies. The destination principle ensures that the net tax burden on imports is equal to the net tax burden on the same supplies in the domestic market. In addition, it also ensures that the amount of tax refunded or credited in the case of exports is equal to the amount of tax that has been levied The embedded features of the VAT system, when combined with the destination principle should ensure the same neutrality for international trade. However, there are in practice a number of cases where the standard rules will not apply and foreign businesses will incur VAT in a jurisdiction where they are neither established nor registered. Normally, the right of deduction of VAT is exercised by reducing the net tax payable. However, when foreign businesses incur VAT on business expenditures in a jurisdiction where they are not registered (or required to be registered) for VAT, this process cannot be applied The application of the principle that VAT should be neutral and equitable in similar circumstances to international trade implies that the VAT system should not encourage or discourage businesses from investing in or undertaking activities in a specific country. Such business decisions should be made on the basis of market and other non-tax considerations. This means that legislation in place in the country where VAT is incurred by foreign businesses should not discriminate against them nor favour them as regards the imposition of tax and their right of deduction or recovery of VAT compared to domestic businesses. Some tax administrations make reference to reciprocity when setting norms for refunds or equivalent mechanisms. Guideline 2.5 To ensure foreign businesses do not incur irrecoverable VAT, jurisdictions may choose from a number of approaches The basic principles of VAT are broadly the same across jurisdictions that impose VAT, in that they aim to tax consumption in the jurisdiction where it occurs. However, differences exist between them as to the means used to achieve this objective. These differences may have many causes, including local history and traditions and the need to achieve specific policy objectives. These differences include the different approaches jurisdictions take to ensure neutrality of taxation in respect of foreign businesses The approaches adopted by jurisdictions to ensure the principle that foreign businesses should not incur irrecoverable VAT include: the operation of a system of applying for direct refunds of local VAT incurred making supplies free of VAT enabling refunds through local VAT registration shifting the responsibility on to locally registered suppliers/customers, and granting purchase exemption certificates Some jurisdictions may adopt only one approach, but others use a combination of different approaches 2.18 Each approach seeks to ensure that foreign businesses do not incur irrecoverable VAT. It is likely that each approach will have its merits in particular circumstances, as each seeks to strike a balance between the relative compliance costs for businesses (both local supplier and foreign customer), 17

19 on the one hand and administrative costs and the risks of tax evasion and avoidance for the tax authorities, on the other hand. The key is to find a reasonable balance between the two, while ensuring that, to the greatest extent possible, foreign businesses do not incur irrecoverable VAT, except where explicitly provided for in legislation on a basis that does not allow unjustified discrimination. 8 As a result, none of the approaches is to be preferred as a general rule. C.2 Administration and compliance 2.19 As with many other taxes, VAT imposes compliance costs and burdens on businesses and administrative costs and burdens on the tax authorities. Examples of costs associated with VAT compliance include costs related to administration (e.g. employees and the costs of collection and recovery), infrastructure (e.g. costs associated with establishing systems and processes, including making software changes) and finance (e.g. cash-flow costs and the costs of bank guarantees) Paragraph 2.7 outlines the principle that VAT considerations should not be the primary driver for business decisions. Paragraph 2.8 recognises that VAT considerations go beyond the amount of tax ultimately paid to tax administrations and include the associated costs The principle that businesses should not incur irrecoverable VAT (except in the circumstances contemplated by paragraph 2.4) does not mean that compliance costs and burdens should not be borne by businesses. Similarly, tax administrations will incur costs and burdens in managing VAT systems, including the underlying procedures and policies. Although some form of VAT refund or relief mechanism should generally be available to foreign businesses, the availability and scope of such systems or mechanisms may take into account the related burdens of administration, collection and enforcement. For example, the tax administration should not be expected to incur disproportionate costs or burdens when dealing with foreign businesses, such as might be the case when dealing with low value or de minimis claims. Guideline 2.6 Where specific administrative requirements for foreign businesses are deemed necessary, they should not create a disproportionate or inappropriate compliance burden for the businesses It may be appropriate for tax administrations to impose specific compliance requirements on different categories of businesses. This may apply, for example, to small enterprises and enterprises in specific sectors or to foreign businesses. Indeed, dealing with foreign businesses with no legal presence in a jurisdiction inevitably brings an element of risk for tax administrations and they may need to take appropriate measures to protect against evasion and avoidance. However, tax administrations are encouraged to take full advantage of those available instruments that support exchange of information and mutual assistance in debt recovery (e.g. the Multilateral Convention on Mutual Administrative Assistance in Tax Matters) Tax administrations should also seek to balance these appropriate measures with the need to prevent unjustified discrimination. Specific rules applicable to foreign businesses should not result in a disguised form of discrimination. It is also important that such specific requirements are clear, consistent and accessible to foreign businesses. 8 Article 24 of the OECD Model Tax Convention on Income and on Capital and its commentary provide principles, examples and reflections on the concept of non-discrimination. 18

20 D. Applying the VAT neutrality principles in the context of cross-border trade: Commentary on the Guidelines on neutrality 2.24 The aim of this Commentary is to provide guidance for the implementation of the Guidelines on neutrality in practice For each Guideline, there is a specific Commentary in Section D.4 below that is intended to illustrate or provide further details on, but not change, its provisions. D.1 Principles of good tax administration 2.26 The Guidelines on neutrality are not intended to interfere with the sovereignty of jurisdictions to apply tax rules for limiting the right to deduct input VAT, to exempt particular activities from VAT, or to establish specific administrative requirements for dealing with different categories of business (including foreign businesses). However, in order to ensure neutrality, jurisdictions are encouraged to apply the General Administrative Principles approved in 2001 by the OECD Forum on Tax Administration, 9 which are reproduced in Box 2.1 below. Revenue authorities are encouraged to: Box 2.1 Guidance - Relations with Taxpayers 1. apply tax laws in a fair, reliable and transparent manner 2. outline and communicate to taxpayers their rights and obligations as well as the available complaint procedures and redress mechanisms 3. consistently deliver quality information and treat inquiries, requests and appeals from taxpayers in an accurate and timely fashion 4. provide an accessible and dependable information service on taxpayers rights and obligations with respect to the law 5. ensure that compliance costs are kept at the minimum level necessary to achieve compliance with the tax laws 6. where appropriate, give taxpayers opportunities to comment on changes to administrative policies and procedures 7. use taxpayer information only to the extent permitted by law 8. develop and maintain good working relationships with client groups and the wider community. D.2 Reciprocity 2.27 According to the Guidelines on neutrality, foreign businesses should not be disadvantaged or advantaged compared to domestic businesses. This means that foreign businesses should not incur irrecoverable VAT when this would constitute an unjustified discrimination compared to domestic businesses. A number of approaches can be used for this purpose such as direct refunds to foreign businesses, refunds through a domestic registration procedure or making supplies VAT free Some jurisdictions require that the granting of refunds to foreign businesses be conditional upon similar relief being granted by the jurisdiction of the foreign business claimant. These requirements for reciprocity generally take two forms: a formal bilateral agreement between 9 OECD (2001), Principles of Good Tax Administration Practice Note, OECD, Paris, 19

21 jurisdictions or a unilateral decision to recognise jurisdictions considered as having (or not having) appropriate features in their legislation The Guidelines take no position on the desirability of jurisdictions adopting reciprocity requirements. However, insofar as jurisdictions choose to adopt such requirements, they should do so in a manner that minimises their impact on neutrality It is important to consider the scope of the reciprocity requirements. Indeed, in the context of the Guidelines, a reciprocal mechanism would not be required from a jurisdiction that does not have a VAT system, as defined for purposes of these Guidelines. 11 Jurisdictions are encouraged to treat other jurisdictions mechanisms as satisfying reciprocity requirements if they are designed to ensure VATneutral treatment for foreign businesses and achieve a substantially equivalent treatment. A substantially equivalent treatment might, for example, result from a mixture of VAT free supplies and local registration mechanisms, as much as from the application of a direct refund approach. 12 D.3 Groups of countries 2.31 Based on the principle set out in the Guidelines on Consumption Taxation of Cross-Border Services and Intangible Property in the Context of E-commerce and in accordance with the Ottawa Taxation Framework Conditions, a group of countries bound by a common legal framework for their VAT system may apply specific measures to transactions between those countries. 13 If this gives rise to a difference of treatment between member countries of such a group and non-member countries, but the treatment of non-member countries would not otherwise be inconsistent with the Guidelines on neutrality, the difference should not be regarded as being inconsistent with these Guidelines. D.4 Commentary on the Guidelines D.4.1 Commentary on Guideline 2.1 The burden of value added taxes themselves should not lie on taxable businesses except where explicitly provided for in legislation VAT normally flows through businesses so that the final consumer, not the business, bears the burden of the tax. In domestic trade, VAT neutrality is achieved by the staged payment system: each business pays VAT to its suppliers on its inputs and receives VAT from its customers on its outputs. Input VAT incurred by each business is offset against output VAT so that the amount of tax to be remitted to tax authorities by each business is the net amount or balance of those two. In some cases, the result of the offset gives rise to a refund due by the tax authorities to the business. Examples include businesses that incur more tax on their inputs than is due on their outputs (such as exporters, as their output is free of VAT under the destination principle) and businesses whose purchases are larger than their sales in the same period (such as with new or developing businesses or seasonal businesses) In cross-border trade, the neutrality of the tax is achieved by the application of the destination principle. According to this principle, exports are not subject to tax (free of VAT) and imports are taxed 10 Reciprocity is currently applied by some countries that operate direct refund mechanisms (i.e. refunds through a stand-alone procedure, rather than through a local registration). However, it is possible that a reciprocity requirement is applied by jurisdictions using other means of ensuring neutrality, in which case the same guidance in this commentary also applies. 11 See Chapter 1. Where a jurisdiction operates a hybrid system, the part of the system that is not a VAT would not be considered Germany has expressed a reservation on this paragraph. OECD (2001), Taxation and Electronic Commerce - Implementing the Ottawa Taxation Framework Conditions, OECD, Paris, footnote 6, page

22 on the same basis and at the same rates as domestic supplies. This implies that the total tax paid in relation to a supply is ultimately determined by the rules applicable in the jurisdiction of its consumption and therefore all revenue accrues to the jurisdiction where the supply to the final customer occurs. In some instances, however, foreign businesses may incur VAT in jurisdictions where they cannot recover the input tax by way of deduction through the same procedures as domestic businesses. As in the case of domestic businesses, foreign businesses should not bear the burden of the tax itself, except where provided for in legislation Although the burden of VAT should not fall on businesses, Guideline 2.1 recognises that jurisdictions may legitimately place a VAT burden on them when this is specifically set out in legislation. Guideline 2.1 and this corresponding Commentary do not seek to make any judgement about the circumstances in which it may or may not be appropriate to place a VAT burden on businesses. They simply recognise that jurisdictions may do so Guideline 2.1 is not intended to interfere with the sovereignty of jurisdictions to apply rules for limiting or blocking the right to deduct input VAT. However, in order to ensure neutrality, in applying such rules, tax administrations are encouraged to apply the principles of good tax administration as set out in Box When jurisdictions do impose a VAT burden on businesses, legislation that so provides should be, in accordance with Box 2.1, clear and transparent and should keep compliance costs to a minimum The reference to explicit provisions in the legislation in Guideline 2.1 is not limited to provisions of the law itself but also includes explicit provisions made under the law, such as in regulations or as a result of the exercise of administrative powers granted by the legislation. Decisions of courts of the relevant jurisdiction should also be taken into consideration When a tax burden is placed on businesses, an explicit provision for such a burden in legislation does not suffice to make it consistent with the Guidelines on neutrality. It simply means that Guideline 2.1 is met. If the legislation in question does not meet the other five Guidelines on neutrality, or is inconsistent with the Guidelines as a whole, such legislation cannot be seen as meeting the neutrality principles. D.4.2 Commentary on Guideline 2.2 Businesses in similar situations carrying out similar transactions should be subject to similar levels of taxation The main goal of Guideline 2.2 is to ensure that similar levels of taxation are achieved. However, this goal is recognised only with respect to businesses in similar situations that are carrying out similar transactions. If either one of these conditions is not satisfied, Guideline 2.2 has no application. Accordingly, in explaining the meaning of the Guideline, it is essential to define the concepts of similar levels of taxation, businesses in similar situations and similar transactions. D Similar levels of taxation 2.40 In the context of the Guidelines on neutrality, when determining whether a similar level of taxation has been achieved, the final tax burden needs to be considered, taking into account all available refunds and credits. Businesses with full right to deduct input tax should not bear any tax burden, whether the services and intangibles they use to make their onward supplies are acquired abroad or in the domestic market. When a business without full right to deduct input tax incurs VAT in different jurisdictions, it should bear the burden of the VAT only once on each input. If such a business were to incur irrecoverable tax in two or more jurisdictions on the same input, it would not bear a similar level of taxation compared to another business without full right to deduct input tax that acquired its inputs solely within the domestic market. 21